Lumber conveyer and separator.



C. H. WILLIAMS. LUMBER UONVEYERAND SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.2,1910.

Patented Jun 27, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

VE tar. 91

Patented June 27, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I I II C. H. WILLIAMS.

- LUMBER OONVEYBR AND SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION IILED DEO.2,1910.

W i l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. Q

CHARLES H. WILLIAMS, OF BROWNDELL, TEXAS.

LUMBER CONVEYER AND SEPARATOR.

Application filed December 2, 1910. Serial No. 595,238.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 27, 1911.

marked thereon, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to lumber conveyers and separators for horizontalsawing machines, whereby a board and slab are automatically separatedand conveyed away to their proper depositories.

As now usually operated the board and slab passes from the horizontalsaw-table to and upon a train of receiving rolls, lo cated at thedelivery end of said saw-table, from where the slab is manually liftedfrom the board and carried to its depository, and the board manuallyremoved from the receiving rolls and carried to its depository,

the process usually requiring the work of two men.

The object of my invention is to provide mechanism which operates toremove the board and superimposed slab from the receiving rolls, removethe slab from off the board and automatically convey each in the properdirection to the designated depositories therefor. v

The features of this invention are hereinafter fully set forth andexplained, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1, is a top or plan view of my im proved lumber conveyer and separator,showing it relatively to the delivery end of a saw-table. Fig. 2, is avertical section of the same on the line era-em in Fig. 1.

In these drawings, A, indicates the delivery end of a saw-table of ahorizontal sawin machine; B, indicates the mill floor, and O O and C,indicate the parts of the machine frame. Mounted in the part, C, of theframe in line with the "delivery end, A, of the saw-table, there are aseries of receiving rolls, D, upon which the sawed material passesfromthe saw-table, A.

In bearings, e, on one side of the part, C,

of the machine frame there is mounted a rock-shaft, E, and on saidrock-shaft there are mounted, intermediate of the rolls, D, a series ofarms, E carrying pulleys, e ,preferably of the sprocket type, and onsaid shaft, E, there is also mounted a downwardly projecting arm, E, forthe purpose hereinafter set forth. ,On the frame, C, at the oppositeends of therolls, D, I also mount a shaft, F, provided at one end with adriving pulley, Fflcomrniinicating with a source of power hereinafterdescribed, and

at intermediate points with pulleys, f, preferably sprockets, and on thepulleys, c and f, I place belts, preferably sprocket-chains, 7. On theside of the part, C, of the .ma} chine frame somewhat belowand at oneside of the shaft, F, I mount a shaft, G, pro

'vided with triangular frames, G G and G which are so secured on saidshaft as to be rotatable thereby, and in the central one of these framesI provide studs, g, on one side thereof adapted to be engaged bymechanism hereinafter described, for rotating the shaft, G, and thetriangular frames, G G and Gr thereon, and at each corner of thesetriangular frames there is a shoulder, 9 which projects sufficientlyabove the faces thereof to engage the edge of a board resting thereon,as illustrated in Fig. 2. These shoulders also operate as stops toengage spring latches, 9 secured to the frame, C, which limits eachrotative' movement of said triangular frames.

On the frame, C, there is mounted a bellcrank lever, H, one arm, h, ofwhich extends to and is adapted to be engaged by the studs, g", whichproject from one side of the triangular frame, G and the other arm, 72of said bell-crank lever is pivoted to a link, E the opposite end ofwhich link is pivoted to the arm, E as is clearly shown in Fig. 2.Preferably below the mill floor, B, and under the central triangularframe,

B an upright cylinder, I, provided with a piston, (not shown), connectedto a pistonrod, I and pivoted to the upper end of said piston-rod, I,there is a rod, K, which extends upward and is adapted to engage one ofthe studs, 9, on the central frame, G so that when the piston-rod, Imoves upward the triangular frame, G and the like frames, G and G on theshaft, G, will be rotated one third of a revolution, and

until th houlders thereon engage with G I mount on a suitable supportingframe,

the stops, 9 as illustrated in Fig. 2, and during this movement of theframe, G the stud, g thereon engages the arm, 72., of the bell-cranklever, H, and raises it, which, through the arm, 5, thereof, link, E andarms, E and E raises the pulleys, e so that the belts, f raise the sawedboard and slab ofl? of the rolls, D, and convey them laterally to andupon one of the faces of the trlangular frames, G G and G where theyslide downward until the board engagesthe shoulders, 9 thereon,'whilethe slab passes over it, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. Thecylinder, I, is provided with compressed air or steam pipes, 2', leadingfrom the upper and lower ends of said cylinder to a three-way valve, Icommunicating with a suitable air or steam supply, (not shown) by meanswhereof the piston in the cylinder, I, is moved up or down as desired.In order to retain the jaw is, on the upper end of the rod, K, in properalinement so that it will engage one of the studs, 9, at each upwardmovement thereof, I provide a cord, L, secured thereto and passing underand over suitable pulleys, Z and Z to the end of which cord a weight, L(shown in dotted lines) is secured.

Mounted on the part of the frame, 0 there are a series of conveyerrolls, M, provided with pulleys, M preferably sprockets, over whichbelts or sprocket-chains, m, operate to drive said rolls in unison, andone of these rolls is provided with a driving pulley, M communicatinwith a source of power hereinafter described. These conveyer rolls, M,receive a board from the triangular frames, G G and G at each partialrevolution thereof, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Secured above the rolls, M, there are inclined guides, N, the upper endsof which aline with the tops of the shoulders, 9 on the frames, G G Gwhen said frames are at rest as illustrated in Fig. 2, .and form apassage-way for the slabs as they slide off of the boards retained onsaid frames by the shoulders, 9 At the lower ends of said guides, N, aremounted pulleys, O, and on the part C of the mill frame, are upwardlyinclined guides or skids, N at the upper end of which on a shaft, P,there are mounted pulleys, P in alinement with the pulleys, O, andguides, N and carrier belts or sprocket-chains, O operate over thepulleys, O, and P and are supported by the guides, N carry the slabsfrom the bottoms of the guides, N, laterally over the pulleys, P Theshaft, P, is also provided at one end with a driving pulley, Pcommunicating with a source of power hereinafter referred to.

On the part, C of the mill frame there is mounted a series of conveyerrolls, Q, provided with pulleys, Q over which a suitable driving belt orsprocket-chain, q, op-

I mount a driving shaft, R, preferably below.

the mill floor, B, communicating by a belt, R with a suitable motivepower, and upon this shaft, B, there is a pulley, R communicating bymeans of a belt, S, with the pulley, F on the shaft, F; a pul1ey, Rcommunicating by means of a belt, S with the pulley, M for driving therolls, M; a pulley, R communicating by means of a belt, S with thepulley, P, on the shaft, P, operating the conveyers, O and a pulley, Rcommunicating by a cross-belt, S with the pulley, O driving thetrain ofrolls, Q, so that all of these mechanisms are operated thereby inunison.

In operation as the sawed board with the slab superimposed thereon haspassed oif of the saw-table, A, and upon the receiving rolls, D, theoperator moves the valve, P,

which admits air or steam into the lower part of the cylinder, I, thepiston-rod, I and the rod, K, engaging one of the studs, g, on thetriangular frame, G then moves upward and rotates the frames, G G Gonethird of a revolution, and simultaneously therewith'the arm, h, ofthe bell-crank lever, H, is raised actuating the shaft, E, to raise thepulleys, e and the conveyer belts, 7, to raise the board and slab off ofthe receiving rolls D, and convey them laterally over the pulleys, f,where they fall on one of the inclined faces of the triangular frames, GG ,G on which. they slide downward until the edge of the board engagesthe stops, 9*, thereon and is retained thereby, while the slab slidesoff upon the guides, N, and down to the laterally operating conveyermechanism, O and is thereby conveyed over the pulleys, P and slidingdown on the guides, p, is deposited upon the train of conveyer rolls, Q,by means whereof it is conveyed away. Meanwhile as the rotative movementof the frames, G G G is being completed, the bell-crank lever, H, andthe conveyer mechanism, 6 f have returned to their normal position, sothat the rolls, D,

are ready to receive other sawed material from the saw-table, A, and bya reversal of the air or steam in the cylinder, I, the rod, K, has beenmoved downward ready to again act to turn the triangular frames, G G Gwhich when done operates as before described, and also drops a boardresting thereon upon the conveyer rolls, M, by which it is conveyedaway. i

It will be observed that aside from the ap-. plication of the air orsteam to the cylinder, I, all of the operations of separating andconveying the sawed lumber and slabs to their proper depositories, areautomatically performed without manual labor being necessary therefor.It will also be observed that under some conditions the laterallyoperating slab conveying mechanism, 0, O and P may be dispensed with,and the conveyer rolls, Q, so located as to receive the slabs directlyfrom the inclined guides, N if desired.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention soas to enable others to construct and operate the same, what I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. The combination in a lumber conveyer and separator, of rolls adaptedto receive lumber from a sawing machine, rotative separator mechanism,laterally operative conveyer mechanism, mechanism adapted tocontinuously drive said conveyer mechanism, and a motor mechanismadapted to rotate said separator mechanism and to cause said conveyermechanism to engage lumber on said receiving rolls when desired,substantially as set forth.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a train ofreceiving rolls, a conveyer mechanism capable of being intermittentlyoperated to remove sawed material laterally from said receiving rolls, arotative board and slab separator mechanism to receive the sawedmaterial from said conveyer mechanism and separate the boards from theslabs, a train of conveyer rolls to receive the sawed boards from theseparator mechanism, and conveyer mechanism to receive the slabs whenseparated from the boards, substantially as set forth.

In a device of the character described, the combination of a train ofreceiving rolls, a transversely operating conveyer mechanism normallybelow the plane of thetops of said rolls, means for raising it above thetops of said rolls whereby it operates to convey a material therefrom, arotative separator mechanism capable of intermittent operation solocated as to receive sawed material from said conveyer mechanism,mechanism for intermittently imparting rotative motion to saidseparator, guides upon which the slabs from sawed material pass fromsaid separator, conveyer mechanism receiving the slabs from said guidesand carrying them away, and conveyer rolls for receiving the boards fromthe separator when it is rotated and conveying them away, substantiallyas set forth.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a train ofreceiving rolls, a laterally operative conveyer device for removingsawed material laterally from said rolls, a separator device forreceiving sawed material from said conveyer, comprised substantially ofa series of triangular frames mounted on a shaft and rotatable in unisontherewith, shoulders at the corners of said frames, and mechanism forintermittently rotating said frames. one third of a revolution at eachoperation thereof, substantially as set forth.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a train ofrolls adapted to receive sawed material from a sawing machine, a lateralconveyer mechanism capable of being intermittently operated to conveysawed material laterally from said rolls, an intermittently rotatableseparator device upon which the sawed material is delivered by saidconveyer mechanism, means to rotate the same When desired an inclinedguide upon which the slabs pass from said separator, a train of conveyerrolls below said separator for receiving boards from the separator whenit is rotated, a laterally operating slab conveyer mechanism, forreceiving slabs from said inclined guides, a train of conveyer rollsupon which said slab conveyer delivers the slabs, and driving mechanismfor operating said mechanisms in unison to separate the slabs from theboards and deliver each of them to their proper depository,substantially as set fort-h.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

HENRY C. HOWELL, EARNEST T. SEALE.

